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<h1>Sometimes you have to be negative</h1>

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<div class="outline">
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<center><span class="summary">Outline</span></center>
<ol>
<li><a href="#part1">Negating verbs</a></li>
<li><a href="#part2">Conjugating verbs into the negative</a></li>
</ol>
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<h2 id="part1">Negating verbs</h2>
Now that we've seen how to declare things and perform actions with verbs, we want to be able to say the negative. In other words, we want to say that
such-and-such action was <i>not</i> performed.  Verbs are negated by conjugating to their negative form just like the state-of-being for nouns and adjectives.
However, the rules are a tad more complicated.

<h2 id="part2">Conjugating verbs into the negative</h2>
We will now make use of the verb classifications we learned in the last section to define the rules for conjugation. But before we get into that, we need to cover one very
	important exception to the negative conjugation rules, the verb 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」.
「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」 is an u-verb used to express existence of inanimate objects.

<p>
For example, if you wanted to
say that a chair is in the
room, you would use the verb 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」.  The equivalent verb for animate objects
(such as people or animals) is 「<span title="いる - to exist (animate)" class="popup">いる</span>」, which is a normal ru-verb.  For example, if you
wanted to say that a <i>person</i> is in the room, you must use the verb 「<span title="いる - to exist (animate)" class="popup">いる</span>」
not 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」.  These two verbs
「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」 and 「<span title="いる - to exist (animate)" class="popup">いる</span>」 are quite
different from all other verbs because they describe existence and are not an actual action.  You also have to go through the bother of picking the right
one for inanimate and animate objects.
</p>

<p>
Anyway, the reason I bring it up here is because the negative of 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」
is 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ない</span>」 (meaning that something does not exist). Remember, this is an exception so do not
apply the normal rules of negation to this verb.
</p>

<center>
<table class="note">
<tr><td><strong><b>The negative of 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」 is 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ない</span>」.</b></strong></td></tr>
</table>
</center>

<p>Here are the rules for all other verbs.  To negate a ru-verb, you simple drop 「る」 and add 「ない」.  For
u-verbs, it may be helpful to see the romanized version of the verb.  You simply drop the / u / vowel sound and add "anai".  Or, more preferably, you can refer
back to the <a href="hiragana.html#part1"><i>hiragana table</i></a>.  You take the last hiragana character which will always be in the / u / row, move
up two columns and replace it with the character in the / a / row.  For example 「く」 changes to 「か」.
</p>

<p>
One important exception to this rule are for verbs that end in 「う」. You must substitute 「わ」 for 「う」 and
not 「あ」 as the rule would suggest.  You will also have to memorize the conjugations for the two exception verbs and 「<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span>」.
The following tables show the conjugation for sample verbs and the exception verbs.
</p>

<div class="sumbox">
<span class="summary">How to conjugate verbs to the negative form</span>
<ul>
<li><b>ru-verbs:</b> To conjugate ru-verbs to their negative, drop the last 「る」 and attach 「ない」 to the result.
<br />例）　<span title="みる - to see" class="popup">見<em><strike>る</strike></em></span> → <span title="みる - to see" class="popup">見<em>ない</em></span>
<br />例）　<span title="でる - to come out" class="popup">出<em><strike>る</strike></em></span> → <span title="でる - to come out" class="popup">出<em>ない</em></span>
</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li><b>u-verbs:</b> To conjugate u-verbs to their negative, first replace the last / u / character with the / a / sound equivalent and attach 「ない」 to the result.
<br />例）　<span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲<em><strike>む</strike></em></span> → <span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲<em>ま</em></span> → <span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲ま<em>ない</em></span>
<br />例）　<span title="まつ - to wait" class="popup">待<em><strike>つ</strike></em></span> → <span title="まつ - to wait" class="popup">待<em>た</em></span> → <span title="まつ - to wait" class="popup">待た<em>ない</em></span>
<br />
<br />※ One important exception is verbs that end in 「う」. For these, you must replace 「う」 with 「わ」 （<i>not</i> 「あ」） and 	attach 「ない」 to the result.
<br />例）　<span title="ひろう - to pick up" class="popup">拾<em><strike>う</strike></em></span> → <span title="ひろう - to pick up" class="popup">拾<em>わ</em></span> → <span title="ひろう - to pick up" class="popup">拾わ<em>ない</em></span>
</li>

</ul>
</div>

<center>
<table border="0">
<tr>
<td>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Sample ru-verbs</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Positive</th><th>Negative</th></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べ<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べ<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="きる - to wear" class="popup">着<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="きる - to wear" class="popup">着<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="しんじる - to believe" class="popup">信じ<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="しんじる - to believe" class="popup">信じ<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="ねる - to sleep" class="popup">寝<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="ねる - to sleep" class="popup">寝<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="おきる - to get up" class="popup">起き<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="おきる - to get up" class="popup">起き<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="でる - to come out" class="popup">出<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="でる - to come out" class="popup">出<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="かける - to hang" class="popup">掛け<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="かける - to hang" class="popup">掛け<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="すてる - to throw away" class="popup">捨て<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="すてる - to throw away" class="popup">捨て<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="しらべる - to investigate" class="popup">調べ<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="しらべる - to investigate" class="popup">調べ<em>ない</em></span></td></tr>

</table>
</td>


<td rowspan="2">
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</td>

<td>
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Sample u-verbs</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Positive</th><th>Negative</th>
<th>ローマ字</th><th>ローマ字 (Neg)</th></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="はなす - to speak" class="popup">話<em>す</em></span></td><td><span title="はなす - to speak" class="popup">話<em>さない</em></span></td>
<td>hanas<em>u</em></td><td>hanas<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="きく - to hear, to ask" class="popup">聞<em>く</em></span></td><td><span title="きく - to hear, to ask" class="popup">聞<em>かない</em></span></td>
<td>kik<em>u</em></td><td>kik<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="およぐ - to swim" class="popup">泳<em>ぐ</em></span></td><td><span title="およぐ - to swim" class="popup">泳<em>がない</em></span></td>
<td>oyog<em>u</em></td><td>oyog<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="あそぶ - to play" class="popup">遊<em>ぶ</em></span></td><td><span title="あそぶ - to play" class="popup">遊<em>ばない</em></span></td>
<td>asob<em>u</em></td><td>asob<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="まつ - to wait" class="popup">待<em>つ</em></span></td><td><span title="まつ - to wait" class="popup">待<em>たない</em></span></td>
<td>mat<em>u</em></td><td>mat<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲<em>む</em></span></td><td><span title="のむ - to drink" class="popup">飲<em>まない</em></span></td>
<td>nom<em>u</em></td><td>nom<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="なおる - to be fixed" class="popup">直<em>る</em></span></td><td><span title="なおる - to be fixed" class="popup">直<em>らない</em></span></td><td>naor<em>u</em></td>
<td>naor<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="しぬ - to die" class="popup">死<em>ぬ</em></span></td><td><span title="しぬ - to die" class="popup">死<em>なない</em></span></td><td>shin<em>u</em></td>
<td>shin<em>anai</em></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td>＊<span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買<em><u>う</u></em></span></td><td><span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買<em><u>わ</u>ない</em></span></td><td>ka<em><u>u</u></em></td>
<td>ka<em><u>wa</u>nai</em></td></tr>

</table>
</td>

<td rowspan="2">
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</td>


<td valign="top">
<table border="1" cellpadding="5">
<caption>Exception Verbs</caption>
<tr align="center"><th>Positive</th><th>Negative</th></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="する - to do" class="popup">する</span></td><td><span title="する - to do" class="popup">しない</span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td><span title="くる - to come" class="popup">くる</span></td><td><span title="くる - to come" class="popup">こない</span></td></tr>

<tr align="center"><td>＊<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ある</span></td><td><span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ない</span></td></tr>

</table>
</td>

</tr>
</table>

＊ = exceptions particular to this conjugation
</center>

<h3>Examples</h3>
Here are some example sentences using the negative form.  To look these words up, use the link labeled "Translate Words in Japanese Text"
from the WWWJDIC or just <a href="http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jwb/wwwjdic?9T">click here</a>.
It will reverse the conjugation and give you the dictionary form. (And even what conjugations were used to boot!)
Here are the example sentences from the last section conjugated to the negative.
<p>（１）　アリスは<em><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べない</span></em>。- As for Alice, does not eat.
<br />（２）　ジムが<em><span title="あそぶ - to play" class="popup">遊ばない</span></em>。- Jim is the one that does not play.
<br />（３）　ボブも<em><span title="する - to do" class="popup">しない</span></em>。- Bob also does not do.
<br />（４）　<span title="おかね - money" class="popup">お金</span>が<em><span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ない</span></em>。- There is no money. (lit: As for money, does not exist.)
<br />（５）　<span title="わたし - me, myself, I" class="popup">私</span>は<em><span title="かう - to buy" class="popup">買わない</span></em>。- As for me, not buy.
<br />（６）　<span title="ねこ - cat" class="popup">猫</span>は<em><span title="いる- to exist (animate)" class="popup">いない</span></em>。- There is no cat. (lit: As for cat, does not exist.)
</p>

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